Amy McCune

Amy Reed McCune is an American ecologist and evolutionary biologist. She is a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell University. McCune specializes in the history of life through the study of fish. McCune’s research examines a variety of fish taxa, from ancient lineages such as lungfishes, sturgeons, and gars to modern fish. Studying groups such as zebrafish, cichlids, and pupfishes, addressing why certain species have certain traits. Her lab focuses on evolution, using methodologies including paleobiology, phylogenetics, genetics, and morphologyne was appointed Senior Associate Dean of the Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 2017. Contributing to departmental governance and broader institutional planning. In 2017, McCune was appointed Senior Associate Dean of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department. McCune is also a Faculty Curator of Ichthyology at the Cornell Museum of Vertebrates. In this role, she provided direct oversight of the ichthyological collections, including fish fossils important to palaeobiological studies. Assisting the museum’s mission to advance the study of vertebrate diversity through fossils.